Spookiesmom, love your Jim Cantori meme! Sounds about right!

Ananda, oh so perfectly true meme “Has power to end world hunger.....”!!! It is simply absolutely perfect. That “God is watching you all the time” was soooo ingrained in my Catholic schoolgirl mind, it is only in the past few years I said to myself, “Wait. No one is watching me when I am alone. What exactly does that feel like to be just with me?” I mean, INGRAINED in my head.

Jacfin, I also try to respect the faiths of others. Yet atheists/agnostics get it the way no one else does, and I need to breathe that air!

Yoga, I am more and more appalled at the total idiocy of people on FB and limit my interaction with it.

Loved your video Mirianda.

Good point, ananda.

nopink - I am often struck by the fact that so many deeply religious people are terrified of dying. If you genuinely believed there was a heaven waiting for you, why wouldn’t you welcome it? It makes me think of the Ricky Georgia’s quote:

“It's a strange myth that atheists have nothing to live for. It's the opposite. We have nothing to die for. We have everything to live for."

For residents of Arkansas who feel sick, there is this site for Covid-19 screening. Please share this with your friends and family in Arkansas. https://uamshealth.com/healthnow/

The main city in my area is home to a “charismatic” Catholic university. That, combined with the local news station being a FOX affiliate and the local newspaper owned by the Sinclair Corporation, the majority of people here are fed religious propaganda and brainwashed daily and they don’t even realize it.

I follow a Facebook page for the city created by a woman fully entrenched in the area’s Catholic scene. Today, someone made a post basically saying perhaps the coronavirus would lead people to honor God and ask for his mercy. I replied “I don’t believe in a “loving” God that would destroy lives and livelihoods so people would ask for mercy. It sounds satanic to me.”

The post is no longer up on the FB page.

But I’ve had enough of the “god is doing this for a reason”. Oh my, why would I want to believe in that kind of god?

God is known as angry, furious and vengeful. Doesn't that sound like an abusive person? Sorry, do not want such a being in my life. Like other abusive patterns there is a streak of kindness, asking for forgiveness so that again, they can vent their fury because they love you. Look at literature on abuse and this same pattern of violence and kindness is repeated again and again.

They keep saying the US wasn't prepared. Actually there was a run thru of what a pandemic would look like in 2019. They predicted pretty much what is happening right now plus worse. The powers didn't listen to a word and disbanded the group. There was also a run thru under Obama. So I don't think anyone in power can say they didn't know what could happen. They just didn't want to spend the money to prepare.

LaurenInPHX I think each one of Richard Dawkins' books stands alone, and I'll describe the ones I've read. I think that there's no reason to read them in order; just pick what you're interested in. He's such a polymath that whatever he dives into, he researches and knows and explains it all beautifully. He's a biologist, but also a lecturer, teacher, wonderful writer, and very amazing at explaining science to non scientists/the lay reader.

What I love about his books is his clear writing, super-wit, and the logical unfolding of information. Like other good non-fiction writers, he leads the reader to ask the next question, and then to its answer. His posed questions, and the teaching of complicated things is as experiential and by 'discovery' method as possible in narrative form.

The Selfish Gene explains a lot of how evolutionary biology works, and so does A River Out of Eden.

The God Delusion is an analysis of how ethics and morality can stand alone without religion, and it's a thoughtful examination of how humans' reliance on religion for those guidelines is logically, intellectually and scientifically flawed. The tone of this book is fairly impatient about 'belief without evidence' as a basis for religion. The opposite of science!

The Ancestor's Tale dives down, from the present day to the beginning of life on earth, to look at how life has evolved, and what various organisms gave rise to. I remember that although it's a tome, it was surprisingly easy to follow, as he guides the reader through this backwards tunnel through time very masterfully. Evolutionary biology, for sure.

I enjoyed The Greatest Show on Earth, which illuminates Darwin's contributions to the field of evolutionary biology, and is an impassioned look at how observational field work has contributed to botany and zoology.

I saw this on Facebook this morning, and it made me giggle. (Note: I know this is an awful idea in terms of the litter created)

While Hobby Lobby is forcing their employees to come to work and "tighten their belts" because "God told them to", JoAnn donated cotton yardage and launched a craft campaign to make protective masks and gowns for hospital staff. Not because of gods, but because it's a good thing to do.

https://www.joann.com/make-to-give-response/

"...Since launching the Make to Give effort, we have donated fabric for more than 1.5 million masks in stores. The amazing thing about our customers is that, especially in difficult times, you are always looking for ways to help. And we know you are making to give far beyond what we give through this program; we estimate customers have purchased enough cotton and elastic to make nearly 9 million masks to-date. You are making a difference."

JoAnn Fabrics vs Hobby Lobby highlights the difference between the ethics of caring for everyone and the self righteous proclamations about what God wants others to do.

The Arkansas religious, not being completely stupid, are driving to their churches and praying in the parking lots in their cars.

I think religion is basically a social activity. Meeting is an important part of it. Online doesn't work very well for many people.

I think everything depends on how long and how enforced 'shelter in place' goes on. If it goes on for several months, some people will go back to church at first but it won't be how they remember it. We always remember pleasant things as being better than they were. They may be disappointed and even put off by the closeness. What ever happens it will be just a small part of many adjustments to something that won't be quite normal.

same w Jerry Falwell Junior. What a moron.